


Coming Home

by LadyLanera



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Language, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 04:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLanera/pseuds/LadyLanera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Final Battle, Eileen comes to Hogwarts to bring her son home. Alternate ending to Deathly Hallows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are not owned by me obviously. All rights go to WB and J.K. Rowling.
> 
> This one-shot came from DaughterOfAres who wanted a good Eileen story. An alternate ending to Deathly Hallows. Enjoy.

With her hood covering her face, a sallow-skinned woman walked briskly down the cobblestone alleyway, decaying row houses on either side of her. Her footfalls were silent and deadly as a stalking panther. As she continued towards the large brick building in front of her, her dark eyes darted wildly through the strange fog that had fallen on the small sleepy town of Cokeworth in the early hours of morning. She sneered when she caught several men smirking darkly at her as they leaned against the brick wall next to the steel door.

"Oh, look here, boys. We've got ourselves a pretty little—" started to purr a scruffy man.

Reflexes like a cat, she shoved him up against the wall, her eyes narrowed murderously. "I am not some sex object here for you and your friends to harass with your asinine lines meant to woo me. You see, you are merely a sexist pig who should be hung up by your testicles in my mind, so I suggest you and your buddies once again become acquainted with each other's hands, because that is as close as I would imagine any of you ever get to having actual sex," she hissed coldly as she stared deeply into the man's eyes. "Now, then, unless you have anything worthwhile to say, I would appreciate it if you left me alone before I am forced to show you your insides."

"Listen here, you crazy bitch," growled another one of the men as he slowly approached her, pressing the button on his switchblade to open it.

She whirled around when the knife-wielding man was close enough and kicked the blade out of his hands. Her fist then slammed against the man's mouth before she hit him in the windpipe. At the sight of another man approaching, she kicked him hard in the chest and watched him fly backwards. The other men quickly took steps back from her and glanced towards the scruffy-looking man who slowly picked himself up off the ground. She raised a brow at the men's supposed leader when he came up, coughing and sputtering.

"Shall we continue? Or have you all had enough yet?" she asked dryly. However, the men's clearly harsh replies were cut off when the large steel door burst open a moment later. Her eyes briefly flickered towards the burly man standing in the doorway, recognizing her husband's boss instantly.

"What's going on out here? Huh?" the burly man shouted, his green eyes passing over his workers' faces. "You four idiots harassing her?" When the men didn't reply, he growled. "Answer me, dumb shits. You harassing her?"

"No, sir," one of the men softly answered, keeping his eyes downcast.

"Fucking liars, all of you," the burly man snarled, sneering at the men. He thrust his finger towards the dark fog. "I don't need dumb shits like you working for me. Go on. Get!"

"But, boss—!" the men argued.

"No! You harass a lady, especially her, you deserve to get your fucking arses fired, you dumb fucks. It's little arseholes like you that give us all bad names. Now, go on. Before I call the constable on you and have your arses thrown in jail. Got it?" The men scrambled in various directions a moment later. The burly man sighed, shaking his head before he offered her hand. "Eileen."

"Fisher," she replied politely, pointedly ignoring his hand. "Is Tobias around?"

"Yeah, he's been giving the boys a hard time like usual," Fisher stated as he wiped the sweat from his face, smearing the black grime like it was war paint across his forehead. "You need him?"

"That is usually why one asks, after all," she drawled with a brief flash of annoyance in her eyes.

Fisher chuckled nervously. "Yeah. Stupid me. Come on. We can go to my office, and I'll have Becky ring for him."

She glanced upwards and frowned before she followed him inside the factory, hearing the loud whirling and slamming noises from the presses. She caught his frequent looks in her direction every now and then and felt her annoyance increase.

"What?"

Fisher laughed softly, glancing away. "Nothing. Just you look younger today for some reason."

"Ah." She forced a small smile to her thin lips. "New product I'm trying." Of all the Muggles in the world, she had to have met Fisher today, the most observant of them all.

"Yeah. Toby must've snuck some earlier, too," joked Fisher. "About didn't recognize him." He whistled as he stopped in front of a closed door, opening it for her. "Must be some damn product you two are using. My wife would kill for a piece of that."

"Fisher, could we hurry this up and cease in the pleasantries?" Eileen stated coldly. "I need to speak with Tobias now."

The burly man blinked before he frowned and stared at her for a moment. "Something happen to your son? Sebastian, right?"

"Severus," she corrected automatically, feeling a flash of anger flood her veins at his mistake.

"Yeah, him," Fisher replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Sorry. Severus still teaching then?"

She barely held back the flinch at the sudden stab in her heart at his question. "Actually, he's headmaster now. Really, though, Fisher, I'd appreciate it if you just got Tobias."

"Hey, yeah, you got it." Fisher walked in behind her a moment later and cleared his throat before he glanced at his secretary, a petite blonde. "Becky, get Tobias up here stat." He then turned back to Eileen as Becky used the intercom to call for Tobias. "You need anything?"

"Just Tobias, thank you," Eileen replied emotionlessly. As she waited, she focused intently on the swimming school of tropical fish in a nearby aquarium. It was absurd that Fisher had this inside one of the most smog producing factories in all of northwestern England. She then scoffed silently. She supposed it was Fisher's way of being cute yet again, playing on the old canary in a coal mine method. Before she even heard her husband, she knew Tobias had just stepped inside the small, cramped office. She slowly turned towards him and inhaled sharply. She had to stay strong. At least for now. Oh, how those blue eyes of Toby's calmed her impending storm inside.

"El?" her husband said cautiously as he approached. It was after all rare that she'd come barging into his work especially at the start of his shift. "Everything all right, love?" He made no motion to embrace her, knowing that he was too dirty but they both knew all she needed was his being there to know that he was mentally hugging her.

"We need to leave." She caught Tobias's look of confusion before he nodded slowly.

"All right. Sure." He turned towards his boss.

"No need, Toby. I understand," Fisher cut in, holding up a hand. "You go. I got things here." He then glanced towards Eileen. "If you two need anything, advance or whatnot, tell me." He then shook his head. "I mean, shit, Tobias, you're one of the hardest working men I've had here. And the most loyal. You name it, and I'll get it to you. Got it?"

Tobias blinked again, clearly bewildered before he nodded slowly. "Yeah. Just time off. If I need more, I'll call in."

"Understood." Fisher sighed heavily. "Hope things are good with your boy."

Eileen grabbed her husband and yanked him towards the door before he could ask what Fisher meant. While Tobias's boss had helped them out tremendously over the past twenty some years, she wouldn't consider him a family friend in the slightest. After all, Fisher, like any boss, had a habit of working her husband to death some nights, forcing him to work inhumane hours in order to make certain something worked right and the product could be moved out the door in a timely fashion. It was on these nights Eileen would find herself in Fisher's office, yelling at him for working Tobias like a dog. Sometimes it'd result in Tobias being able to go home then, other times it didn't. It was a fifty-fifty shot, but she was grateful that Fisher at least understood her ranting like a lunatic during these times and not taking it out on her husband later.

Furthermore, unlike Tobias's previous bosses over the years, Fisher was one who understood that every now and then people needed some help. He wasn't someone to shy away from that as long as one worked hard and showed up regularly. More than a few times, Eileen and Tobias found themselves indebted for Fisher's occasional bonuses to them when they truly needed it the most.

Still pulling Tobias behind her, she headed down the empty street through the fog. Her heart was racing now, and her ears pounded with the loud thumping of her heartbeat. She inhaled sharply when Tobias suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.

"El? What's going on?" His blue eyes stared deep into her black orbs. "What'd Fisher mean back there?" He searched her face and looked for any hint. "Is something the matter with Sev?"

"We have to go, Tobias."

"Yeah, I know. You keep saying that. But go where?"

She closed her eyes, unable to hold his look anymore. It felt like all the spiky walls were closing in and they had nowhere left to go. How could this happen? He should've—oh. Without thinking, she turned into her husband's chest and hugged him, needing to feel his heartbeat against her own for a moment. She was being weak, she knew, but she needed some of her husband's strength.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll get through this. All right?" Tobias then added quietly under his breath, "Whatever this is." Gently, he rubbed her back, kissing her cheek.

"Toby," she whispered against his shoulder. There was so much she had to tell him in order to prepare him. This was their little boy, their little Severus. Her heart was breaking as the words from the Patronus message she received earlier echoed in her mind.

"El, what is it?" Tobias asked quietly, pushing her away from him slowly.

"Forgive me." She grabbed her husband's upper arms and turned on spot, Disapparating them far away from Cokeworth. They reappeared a moment later in front of a badly damaged stone castle with blood soaked grounds all around them. Almost instantly, she felt Tobias wrench back from her and fall to his knees prior to sicking up.

"Ugh," he groaned afterwards, rocking back on his heels. Slowly, he glanced upwards. "That was your mumbo jumbo stuff, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she answered softly.

"Well, a little warning would've been nice, El," he mumbled as he slowly pushed himself up off the ground. He then glanced around. "Where the hell are we?"

"Hogwarts," she whispered, her eyes staring in pure horror at the destruction all around them.

"Huh? Ain't that where—" His blue eyes widened in terror as he realized the significance. "No. You—you ain't saying our boy . . . not our . . . not him," he cried, trembling. "El, tell me he wasn't here. Tell me our boy was far away from here."

"We have to go inside," she stated numbly, her eyes falling on the giant hole where the entrance hall had been. She then turned towards her husband as her mind caught a mystery and latched onto it for a moment. "You can see it?" she asked breathlessly. There was no way Tobias should've been able to see Hogwarts. The enchantments around the castle were supposed to hide their world away from people like Tobias, Muggles in other words.

"If it's a building that looked like it got bulldozed or something, yeah I see it. Why?"

"The enchantments must've . . ." her voice trailed off. She shook her head to focus. They had bigger things to do than to figure out why he could see Hogwarts. With her hand slipping into his, they headed for the entrance, nearly running the closer they got.

They found that the inside of the castle wasn't any better looking than the outside. Bloodstains soaked the stone floor every now and then, and broken rubble lay in pockets where it had fallen. More than a few times, they had to jump over broken or missing steps as they made their way up the non-moving staircases.

Turning to the left on the third floor landing, Eileen led them down the corridor towards the large double doors at the end. She waved her hand at it fiercely, resulting in a thunderous boom as both doors burst open. They rushed inside the hospital wing, their eyes darting at the various faces of injured looking for their son with fear gripping at their hearts.

"Where is he?" Eileen demanded, grabbing the first available person near her. She ignored the stupid girl's look of surprise.

"Eileen?" a soft voice spoke up from across the room.

Her eyes darted to the voice before she frowned openly at a younger woman she had never seen before. "Where is our son?"

"He's back here," the dark curly-haired woman replied, motioning for them to follow. They walked into a private room a moment later, the door closing behind them silently.

Eileen heard her husband's swift intake of air the moment they saw their son lying on a cot. She quickly brushed past the other woman and sat in a chair beside her son, grabbing his hand and holding it quietly. At the feel of her son's heartbeat underneath her palm, she closed her eyes and thanked every deity she could think of. Severus was alive. Her eyes darted to the other side and watched Tobias take their son's other hand and hold it with his own.

"He lost a lot of blood," the younger woman started to explain as she stood at the foot of Severus's cot. She ran a bloodied hand through her long dark curls. "And there was some kind of poison in his system, I think. Poppy believes she neutralized it, though."

"Will our boy be all right?" Tobias softly asked, glancing away from Severus to the woman.

"Yeah. Eventually. It's going to take some time for his, um, for his neck to heal. But Poppy says that if anyone can do it, it'd be Severus."

Eileen squeezed her son's hand and exhaled slowly when she felt the responding light squeeze back. He was still in there, still fighting. Of course she expected nothing less. Her son had always been a fighter, even when he was just a little boy.

"I'll, uh, I'll just give you two some privacy then." The younger woman trembled slowly, clearly not wanting to leave but knowing that she had to. She rested a gentle hand on Severus's blanket-covered foot for a moment before she turned and started for the door to leave.

"Hey, lass?" Tobias called out with a frown.

She turned back slowly. "Yeah?"

As she waited for Tobias to say something, Eileen couldn't help but look the other witch over. The younger woman's brown eyes were dull and glassy, but they said it all—how tortured, scared, worried, and haunted she was now. The other witch likely didn't even realize that she had smeared blood onto her forehead and into her hair, Eileen guessed. Her frown deepened when she caught a flash of something sparkling on the woman's left hand. That ring oddly seemed familiar to her for some reason, but Eileen couldn't place it. Her eyes then passed over the witch's robes, noticing the deep tears in the fabric where she could now see traces of bloodied skin underneath.

"Thank you."

The witch smiled lightly and nodded stiffly. "You're welcome, Tobias." And with that, she limped out of the room.

Eileen's eyes narrowed a moment later when she noticed small droplets of blood on the floor from where the witch had stood to the door. She, however, turned away. That witch was not her concern. Her son Severus was.

It seemed like forever before they heard the quiet knock followed by the door opening slowly. Eileen closed her eyes when she recognized Poppy Pomfrey.

"I see you found him," the matron quietly said.

Eileen merely inclined her head. She couldn't tear her eyes from her son's tightly wrapped neck. So much gauze was wrapped around him.

"What happened to him?"

Pomfrey sighed heavily before she answered. "According to Mister Potter, your son was bitten by You-Know-Who's snake."

"Who the hell is You-Know-Who?" Tobias asked with a frown.

"Tom Riddle," Eileen answered quietly. "A pathetic little worm who should have died long ago."

"Agreed," Pomfrey stated. "Suffice it to say, your son's a hero."

"Of course he is," the grieving mother replied shortly. "He's given so much for all of you over the years, and you repaid with nothing but scorn."

"We made a mistake."

"Funny, isn't it? How many mistakes everyone's made and the cost of those mistakes? I warned people about Riddle, and no one listened. Not even my foolish son."

Awkward silence fell around them soon after. Eileen continued to hold her son's hand, brushing back his long raven locks every now and then. She couldn't believe how much her son had changed over the past year. She could see gray hairs peeking through his raven hair every now and then. His cheeks were once again sunken in, a sign that he hadn't been eating properly. She could only imagine the horrors he went through alone this past year. If only he had listened to her and let the Wizarding World sacrifice another lamb instead of him.

"Pomfrey?" Eileen quietly said minutes later, her mind returning to the Patronus that had startled her awake earlier.

"Yes?"

"Who sent the Patronus to me?"

"What Patronus?" Pomfrey asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

Eileen turned towards the matron. "Someone sent me a Patronus earlier that said Severus was dying, and that I needed to be here. It was in the shape of a panther." She caught Pomfrey's look of surprise instantly before the witch mouthed a quiet 'Oh.' "Who was it?"

"Aurora Sinistra." Pomfrey sighed softly, shaking her head as she clearly recalled something. "She was the one who brought Severus to me. Mister Potter hadn't told us yet where your son's true loyalties lay, but she demanded I work on him regardless of the others dying in the Great Hall. It was obviously before I moved him up here of course."

"You believed the lies and were refusing to treat my son?"

"He _had_ killed Albus, Eileen," Pomfrey argued.

"And if he hadn't, I would have. That man treated my son like he was a puppet. He used him and manipulated Severus—and whoever else he could get his hands on—to do his dirty work for him!"

"Be as that may—"

"No," Eileen snapped. "Had it not been for this woman forcing you to treat him, my son would have died. That is what you are saying, is it not?"

"Yes."

"What ever happened to do no harm, Pomfrey? Or have you forgotten that oath?"

"I had others I needed to treat, Eileen. At the time, I believed stupidly that Severus was a Death Eater, a true one. When Aurora begged me to save him, I merely assumed it was her feelings for him getting in the way again."

"Huh?" Tobias chimed in, his head snapping towards the matron. "Her feelings?"

"The woman who saved your son loves him tremendously regardless of your son's feelings on the matter. She would have sacrificed herself for him if given the chance."

Eileen watched her husband blink for a moment before he cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. She could tell that Tobias was working something out in his mind.

"Tell me. Does this Aurora lass have dark curls and brown eyes by chance?"

"She does. Why?"

"Huh. Thought there was something going on there," he remarked loudly.

Eileen sighed inwardly as the silence fell around them once more. Her mind kept returning to Pomfrey's earlier words. The stupid woman wouldn't have healed Severus had it not been for this Aurora woman. She supposed that she did owe something to the witch then. Frowning deeply, she turned towards Pomfrey and clearly refused to hide the sneer from her face.

"Since you are clearly blind when it comes to observing things, I should perhaps mention that you should look down where you're standing." Eileen brushed off Pomfrey's instant gasp of recognition after the matron glanced down and likely saw the blood droplets. "That blood would be from the woman who saved our son. Now, I realize you're too busy choosing who will live and will die of course to care, but if you were the upstanding matron you claimed to be, maybe you'll go check on her." She forced a mocking smile to her lips. At the sight of Pomfrey sticking her chest out in clear sign of being insulted, Eileen laughed harshly. "Oh, please. Don't even attempt to dispute it. You said it yourself earlier. You thought my son was a traitorous murderer and refused to work on him. Except some silly woman wouldn't let you, so you had no choice but to comply. If it hadn't been for her, you'd have murdered an innocent man, Poppy. My, I wonder how you would have lived with yourself then."

Pomfrey took a step back from her before she glanced at Severus. Without a word, she turned away and walked out of the room.

"Sometimes, El, you're just downright vicious," Tobias snorted.

"That's why you married me, remember?" Eileen reminded before sighing softly, kissing the back of her son's hand. It scared her wholeheartedly to sit there with him, seeing how pale and physically drained he was. Her little boy had nearly died, and she wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for some witch she never even had met before now.

"They'd make a good couple, don't you think?"

Eileen frowned before she glanced at her husband. "Who?"

"Sev and that curly witch we met earlier," Tobias replied before he shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't even attempt it, Tobias. He still hasn't forgiven you for the last woman you tried to set him up with."

"Well, I truly thought he'd hit it off with Melody. I mean, her dad and I—"

"Exactly. Her dad and you, not Severus and her. But we have bigger things on our mind currently, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Tobias sighed. "He'll be all right, though. He's got your stubbornness."

"Excuse me? My what?"

"Uh . . ."

"That's what I thought."

She frowned deeply and shook her head. Why hadn't Severus listened to her all those years ago? She warned him about Riddle, warned him about the cunning nature of that vile man. What had happened to her son to make him not believe his mother and take her at her word? She shook her head once more. Whatever it was, it was now over with for good.

"I still think they'd be good together," Tobias quietly muttered.

"Of course you do," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "I will have no part in it when you tell him. Not this time."

"Oh, come on, El. I'm not that bad at picking them for him."

She snorted. "Remind me again. What was Melody's occupation?"

"Uh . . ."

"Uh-huh. You deserved to have Severus punch you, Tobias Avery, and you know it."

"Okay, so I didn't know she was, uh, you know . . ."

"Exotic dancer?"

"Oh, come on, Eileen," Tobias groaned. "All her dad said was that she was a dancer."

"Did you ever stop to think about why he was suggesting his daughter to date Severus?" She smiled faintly when she heard Tobias's grumbling. "I thought not."

"It can't be that bad this time. I mean, the woman saved our son and made waves. Hell, she sounds like you sometimes. Dominant, strong, kind, caring, you know? Which might be just the woman for him. They say a man always looks for his mother in his potential wife." He yelped when Eileen reached across and hit him upside the head. "What was that for?"

"You idiot."

He rubbed the back of his head and grumbled more. However, several moments later, he leaned forward slightly and stared down at his son's sleeping form.

"Reminds me of that night we couldn't get his fever down, you know?"

She nodded slowly, feeling her heart clench painfully. That was another moment she had been so scared that she was going to lose her beautiful boy. She had held his three-year-old self against her that night and prayed to whoever would listen to save her son. Finally, as the sun broke that morning, so did her son's fever. That was a time she had wished she had forgotten long ago. It made times like this even scarier, giving fear and doubt something to latch onto. She kept holding on Severus's hand, though, and squeezed it every now and then just to feel her son's light squeeze back.

"El?"

She sighed heavily and glanced at her husband.

"Do you think a kiss would wake him up?"

"Are you volunteering, Tobias?" she asked dryly. In her mind, she recognized why her husband was making so many jokes. He was as scared as she was. This had been too close for their liking.

"No, but I reckon I could find that witch again."

"Oh, honestly," she sighed, shaking her head in annoyance. "Will you let that rest? He's likely not even interested in her like that."

"Yeah?" He paused for a moment, clearly thinking on how to word something before it burst out of him. "Then you tell me why she was wearing your mother's ring, huh?"

Eileen blinked before her head snapped towards her husband. An image of the ring flashed in her mind before she recalled the younger witch's bloodied hand. She could've been wrong since she had only seen it that one time on the woman's hand, but it did look surprisingly similar.

"That's what I thought," Tobias remarked.

"How did you—"

Her husband shrugged. "I'm good at reading the ladies. What can I say?" At the sight of her glare, he chuckled. "Nah. Honestly, though, I just remember that ring being on your finger when we first met and thinking that you were a special one."

"In other words, you thought I was from money?"

"Ah, hell, no. I knew you were ten times out of my league, course, but you were a challenge and a mystery. You ain't like the other women, clearly. And I wouldn't had it any other way either. I'm rather glad of the life we've made for ourselves. No good comes from having it handed to you after all."

"Speak for yourself," she mildly replied. "I wouldn't mind having others clean for me."

He chuckled. "Any day you need a break, you got me, love." He then turned back towards Severus. "Our boy picked up a few tricks over the year, didn't he?"

"He picked up something, that's for sure." She sighed before she leaned forward. "He hasn't been changed."

"Huh?"

"His clothes, Tobias," she explained, pointing at Severus's bloodied robes. "All she did was rip out his collar." Her son was still wearing his badly dirtied clothes that he had likely worn when he was attacked by the snake.

"All right. And then? I ain't following, El."

Instead of answering her husband, she stood up and slowly started to pull her son's robes open even further. She caught Tobias's look of confusion and sighed. "I have a hunch." Her frown deepened as she found her son's protective vest that she had bought him long ago as a congratulations gift for completing his potions mastery. She opened that a moment later and snorted when she found the bloodied white undershirt.

"Merlin, you'd think he's a priest or something by the way he buttons up," Tobias commented quietly. "Must get that from you, too, El."

"Oh, hush, Toby," she lightly scolded, ripping open her son's undershirt. A moment later, she found the thin shimmering silver necklace around her son's neck. She gently picked up the delicate chain and slowly pulled the ring up from underneath his shirt.

"Well, I'll be. I was right. They are a good match."

Eileen rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yes, keep telling yourself that, Tobias." She inspected the thin band, noting the protective runes along with a dotted symbol of some kind etched into the silver.

"What's that funny looking thing by your thumb?"

She found herself thinking for a few moments before it dawned on her. A faint smile spread across her lips as she glanced at her son. "Ophiuchus. It's a constellation."

"I thought Severus wasn't any good at Astronomy?"

"He's not," Eileen replied, tearing her eyes reluctantly from their son to her husband. "One of the stars in the constellations is named 'Sinistra."

Tobias chuckled loudly. "That's my boy. 'Bout time some of my charm rubbed off on him. I was starting to worry he wasn't going to take after me at all."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you blind as well, Tobias? He has your nose after all."

"I meant personality wise."

"He has your temper as well," she pointed out.

"I think you mean _our_ tempers there, El, not just mine. And you know what I mean."

"Rarely," she replied back before she turned once more to her son.

"Hey, El?" He paused for a moment. "How long do you think it'll be before we have grandchildren now? I mean, it's over now, right? That Riddle bastard's dead?"

"I haven't a clue." She sighed, brushing back her son's hair once more. "I'm just glad our son's alive." She glanced towards her husband when he grabbed her free hand.

"Me too, El. Me too." Tobias then sighed softly. "Considering all the shit he went through, think he'd mind if we took 'em home with us? I ain't exactly wanting either of 'em here after that."

Eileen nodded slowly, focusing on her son intently before her eyes narrowed. "Them?"

"Well, yeah. We can't just leave her here while we run off with our son, can we?" His blue eyes darted to their son's ring. "That ring sort of says to me that she's a packaged deal with him now? And, well, we do sort of need to get to know her after all . . . and thank her."

Eileen sighed heavily. "I suppose." She truly felt uneasy now with thinking that her son was married. Just how many secrets did Severus hide from her exactly? And why? She shook her head, though. They'd learn the answers later. For now, it was time for them to go home.

"You got Sev?"

"Yes." She nodded slowly, thankful that Tobias knew she was going to leave their son alone anytime soon.

"Then I'll go get her and we can leave this place."

Eileen barely registered her husband leaving a moment later. Her mind was solely on her son. A part of her knew that it was foolish to take him away, but she couldn't get past Pomfrey's earlier words. That foolish witch would have let Severus die. That one action spoke louder than everything else around Eileen right then. She needed to take him away to make certain that couldn't happen again. She would not allow anyone to take her son from her.

So, logically, taking him home was the best option to prevent that. She could certainly brew everything he'd need at the house—disregarding the _tiny_ fact that she hadn't inform Tobias prior to this moment that she had hid all her old Hogwarts stuff in the basement when they had first moved in together. Really, though, Tobias would be shocked at first, but he'd get over it. Eventually. Their new daughter-in-law, if that was what the witch was, could be just the distraction Tobias would need, too, in order to keep him out of trouble, which would allow Eileen to work in silence without Tobias's twenty questions about how her mumbo jumbo worked.

"Oh, Severus," Eileen whispered, sighing heavily. "You dunderhead." She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead and closed her eyes. "It's time to come home, my sweet little boy. Your job is finished, and you've done well." As she watched her son sleep, the door opened again and she sighed.

"So," Tobias laughed awkwardly and grinned sheepishly, "got a map of this place, El?"


End file.
